Killing Pandora
by Silence in Nightmares
Summary: When Henrietta Sunderland went to South Ashfield to search for her grandfather, she never imagined that something was searching for her, too. Now she will have to face the horrors of Silent Hill to find the truth…a truth she might not really want to find.
1. The Metamorphosis of Room 302

Disclaimer: Silent Hill, and all characters within that franchise, belongs to Konami. I own nothing but this particular plot and my original characters, whom you should easily be able to spot. I am making no money off of this story.

A/N: This story is set very shortly after Silent Hill 4: The Room—the ending of which will be obvious further into chapter one. Just to prevent confusion, my main character's name is Henrietta, which will frequently be shortened to "Henri". This is not to be confused with "Henry" as in Henry Townshend. This story is rated M for future content, including violence, potentially disturbing content, and a small amount of inexplicit M/F sexual content.

Beware spoilers for SHs 1-4.

I do not accept flames, but constructive criticism is greatly appreciated. This is my first story, so please be honest.

Also, the separation of paragraphs by **FBFBFB** indicates the beginning or end of a flash back.

**Chapter One: The Metamorphosis of Room 302**

Henrietta Sunderland was becoming more and more agitated as the car took her closer and closer to South Ashfield Heights Apartment building. Never the less, she maintained her resolve to reach the town by nightfall. It was a journey she had taken many times in the past, but is was one she usually looked forward to. However, the circumstances forbade such a thing.

Although it was the middle of summer, the weather seemed to be taking on an uncomfortable change as she approached the bustling town. Well, the usually bustling town…but it seemed to be unusually quite now. Instead of the warm, balmy air she was expecting as she drove through South Ashfield, the air was strangely cold. That itself would not have been so disturbing, where it not for the blanketing fog that seemed to have consumed the town. It was a phenomenon she had never experienced before.

Combined with the unnatural quiet, the stillness in the fog and the chill in the air, Henri could feel herself becoming more paranoid. At the same time, she felt silly for having such a ridiculous feeling. South Ashfield was South Ashfield, after all, and nothing strange ever happened in her home town.

With this in mind, she steeled herself to concentrate solely on driving, as it was quickly becoming more difficult with the gathering fog. Having taken her mind off the supernatural, Henri began to realize just how ridiculous the fog really was. She could barely see 20 ft in front of her, although she could still make out the street lights flickering by as she passed. She was also vaguely aware of the cars driving in the opposite direction past her as their headlights pierced the fog.

She was extremely happy to see the looming figure of South Ashfield Heights Apartment in the distance. She steered herself into the turning lane, and took a left into the parking lot. She was extremely surprised to notice that the lights of the parking lot were not on. In the extremely limited evening light, Henri managed to find a parking spot near the front of the apartment office. After she exited her car, she chanced to look up into the apartments' windows, and a part of her mind noted that the inside of the building looked strangely dark for only 8:00 at night.

She locked the car door behind her, and walked towards the front door of her grandfather's office. However…she was in for yet another shock this night. Her grandfather never closed up the office before midnight, and yet, there before her, the office was dark. Henri looked for a sign to indicated why this might be so, but there was none to be seen. Now starting to get worried, Henri approached the doors cautiously. She hesitantly took hold of one of the handles and pulled. The door opened easily enough, and she stepped inside the office. Searching the wall, she soon found the light switch. As the light flickered on, she looked around the apartment office to find that nothing seemed askew--except for the indubitable fact that there was no sign of her grandfather, Frank Sunderland.

She was about to pick up the telephone and call her grandfather's apartment, when she looked up and noticed something very strange. The apartment keys her grandfather usually kept by the desk during the day where gone. If they were gone, Henri supposed that meant that her grandfather had gone up to bed, as strange as that seemed. He always took the keys up with him, in case someone broke into the office at night. But why would a night owl like Frank Sunderland go to bed this early in the evening? Why was the front door unlocked?

Shaking her head, Henri picked up the phone and dialed her grandfather's extension. The phone rang…and rang…and rang. Henri felt her heart beat faster as her grandfather failed to pick up the phone. Quickly replacing the phone, she dug into her pockets and pulled out her copy of the apartment building's entrance key, and crossed the office to the door connecting to the actual apartments. Opening the door, she was unnerved to see that the usually steady, warm light that illuminated the courtyard that separated the office from the apartments was as faint as the lights had been in the parking lot. She crossed the courtyard at a very quick pace, reaching the first floor entrance very quickly.

Unlocking the door, she stepped into the lobby, flinching as the overhead light flickered on and off. Listening closely, Henri was again confused to note that the usually noisy apartment tenants were strangely quiet…silent, actually.

"What is happening here?" Henri asked herself out loud, trying to comfort herself by breaking the disquieting silence. It was like the entire population was gone—no laughing children, no arguing parents, no blaring TVs. As she walked on, she thought that her mother was right to beg her to check on her grandfather…

**FBFBFB**

Henrietta Sunderland was an undergraduate student of Toxicology at Pleasant River University in the nearby town of Pleasant River. School was out for the summer, but Henri lived alone in a dorm on campus while she took summer classes and worked in a local laboratory, mostly preparing chemicals for experimentation.

Henri was very content, as the graduate school she was hoping to attend had asked her back for another visit. Her job was interesting, her neighbors had invited her out to eat with them, and the summer was going well. Her TV _had_ stopped working at some point during the summer, but she wasn't particularly fond of television anyway, so it was of little consequence. Henrietta was actually enjoying her life; until last night when her mother called her at one o'clock in the morning.

It was obvious that Jamie Sunderland was panicked, more so because she was actually conscious at this late hour, early riser that she was. She had apparently been sobbing, and her breath was coming in quick pants.

"Henri! Please! I can't get a hold of your grandfather! It has been weeks since he called me, he has never failed to call me for this long! I keep trying the apartment lines, but I never get an answer! Ohhh, ohhh…honey, please, please go see if he is alright! I am so worried, and I am stuck in Chicago…please go see him!"

Henrietta knew better than to argue the point, or be angry with her mother for making such a demand on such short notice. Jamie Sunderland was a single mother who traveled often for business. As it was, Henri was not exactly sure who her own father was, and Jamie had kept her own maiden name.

Jamie had always been something of a worry wart, but her paranoia had increased one hundred fold when her beloved twin brother James Sunderland had disappeared in the town of Silent Hill some years before. It had not helped her mother's nerves when she found out that Henri was going to be living in Pleasant River, the town to the immediate east of Silent Hill, and she was deathly afraid that yet another member of her family was going to disappear.

With this in mind, Henri had taken the rest of the week off, and, by 6:00 in the evening, was ready to drive to South Ashfield Heights, where her mother's father, Frank Sunderland, owned an apartment complex…

**FBFBFB**

Looking back, Henri wondered if her mother was doomed to be right. After all, it was painfully obvious that something very strange was happening in her grandfather's apartments. The first floor was completely silent.

Her grandfather's apartment was just to the right of the lobby entrance, in room 105. She stood nervously in front of her grandfather's door. She knocked on the door, but received no answer. She turned the knob, and was surprised to see that the door was unlocked. Henri hesitantly stepped into her grandfather's living room hall entrance. The living room lights were on, and the fan turned slowly on the ceiling. The room seemed in be in order. She checked the kitchen, laundry room, bathroom, and her grandfather's bedroom, but there was absolutely no sign of him anywhere.

Henri was finally starting to feel panic setting in. There seemed to be no explanation as to where or why her grandfather had gone, and yet there seemed to be no signs of any struggle in the apartment.

Mind in a daze, Henri exited her grandfather's apartment, and stood outside, gazing fixedly at the door. She was about to continue down the hall when she felt suddenly that she was not alone, and she could feel something watching her. Darting her eyes to the left, Henri saw a figure run quickly away from her view. "Hey! Come back here!" she yelled, quickly running after the retreating person.

The figure, which looked like a man, ran towards the lobby, and then up the stairs. She followed him, running all the way up the two flights of stairs towards the third floor. The man exited the stairway and ran out to the third floor hallway. She turned the corner past room 304, and saw that the man had stopped down the hall in front of room 302. He was staring at the door intently, but she couldn't see his face in the dim hallway.

"Excuse me, sir! Who are you?" Instead of answering her, the man opened the door to 302 and entered. Now uncertain what to do, Henri stood in the hallway in front of 303, and looked around.

The hallway atmosphere had seemed to take an even more unnerving turn when she stepped onto this floor. The lights did not flicker, but were extremely dim, and the air seemed strangely heavy.

This feeling grew as she approached apartment 302, where she knew Henry Townshend, a friend of her grandfather, lived. Although Henry was only about 28, he and her grandfather seemed to get along very well, and Henri knew that her grandfather had liked and trusted Henry enough to have told him about the mysterious disappearance of Henrietta's uncle James. Had that figure been Henry Townshend? But if it had been, why wouldn't he have answered her? After all, Henry knew her. Maybe… maybe Henry would know what was happening. Henri approached room 302, even as something in her mind told her to stay as far away from the apartment as she could.

She stood in front of room 302 uncertainly, and moved her hand towards the door. Suddenly, an overwhelming feeling of dread fell upon her, and she quickly gasped and stepped away from the door. She was about to turn around and leave the floor altogether when it occurred to her that doing so would do nothing to help her find her grandfather.

Summoning all of her courage, Henri ignored the horrible feeling that crept up on her as she approached the door, and slowly turned the knob. If Henry was in the apartment, she would apologize for entering without permission. If it was not Henry, then…she had a whole other host of problems to worry about.

The air in 302 was even heavier than in the hallway. The only light available was coming from the hall, and Henri really couldn't see anything. Fumbling around on the wall, she finally found the switch, and flicked it on. Any sense of relief she might have felt with finding a working light was quickly squashed when her eyes adjusted, however.

She gasped in absolute horror as she took in the room before her. The living room was splattered in blood and something that looked suspiciously like rust. The ceiling fan had fallen onto the coffee table in front of the dead television. The blood was flung at impossible angles on even the ceiling—everything was covered in the scarlet liquid, and the metallic smell of iron hung in the air. Even the furniture was covered.

Jerking her head away from the sight, she looked towards the kitchen, and was in for just as bad a sight. It too was covered in blood. The sink faucet was dripping a steady steam of red liquid. In front of the refrigerator was a pool of blood, and the horrible smell coming from it warned Henri not to even think of opening it.

She was about to leave the kitchen when something caught her eye. In the corner of the living room, there appeared to be a hole chiseled into the wall. Walking cautiously over to the hole, Henrietta noticed that there was something poking out of it. Eyes narrowed, Henri pulled that "something" the rest of the way out of the wall.

It proved to be a stuffed Robby the Rabbit, the strangely disturbing mascot of Lakeside Amusement Park. What made this particular toy so unnerving, however, was the fact that it was covered in blood. She carefully placed the toy on the end table next to Henry's couch.

She had just turned around to explore the rest of the apartment when she heard a soft "thump" behind her. Slowly turning around, Henrietta noticed that the ruined toy had somehow fallen off of the table. This was not as disturbing as the fact that it had managed to land upright, and almost seemed to be pointing one paw towards—she looked behind her—the room Henri knew to be the laundry room. Frowning, Henri looked back towards the rabbit.

Her heart skipped a beat when she saw that it was still sitting on the table next to the couch.

Rubbing her eyes, thinking she must be tired, Henri backed away from the living room, soon bumping into a wall. Turning her head, she saw that she had reached the hallway leading to the rest of the apartment.

Cautiously looking around the corner, Henri sighted the rooms that she was sure would be Henry's bedroom and bathroom. Was the figure in one of those, then? He certainly did not seem to be here. Now, however, Henri was starting to believe that she did not want to meet this man after all, if he had so casually walked into this room of horrors.

A terrible thought occurred to her. What if Henry was dead? What if the figure she had been following had killed him? What if he had done the same to the rest of the tenants…to her grandfather?

Her grandfather…like it or not, she had to find him. Even if this man was a sociopath, Henri couldn't chance leaving without knowing what happened to Frank Sunderland and his good friend, Henry Townshend.

Her mind finally determined to go forward, Henri walked down the hallway, and finally noticed something which, in her state of near panic, she had missed before. At the end of the hallway, between the two doors, there was a great hole in the wall. She approached it cautiously, and looked inside.

There was nothing of particular interest in the room, except for an unsetting, large metallic cross lying against the wall. Scattered about the floor beneath it was a pool of black feathers. More interestingly, something seemed to be written in blood on the wall behind the cross:

" '11/21'" Henri said to herself, "What the hell is that supposed to mean?"

She was about to wander farther into the once hidden room when she heard a door shut behind her. She spun around but found no one. The sound seemed to have come from the door on the right side of the hallway. She tentatively grabbed hold of the handle and turned the knob. This was the bathroom, and it was an absolute mess.

The mirror across from her was smashed to pieces and blood streaked these walls also. However, the most significant damage appeared to have been done to the wall across from the door. It looked as if a gigantic hole had been smashed into the wall, and then had been calked over, blocking it off. However, that was it. There was no one besides herself in the room. At least that's what she thought.

Looking up into what remained of the mirror, Henrietta gave a startled gasp. There was a dark reflection in the area behind her. Whirling around, Henri suddenly felt more relief than she ever had in her life. "Henry!" she gasped. Indeed, Henry Townshend stood behind her, looking as handsome as ever.

He wasvery close to her, and had a strange, slightly distant look in his green eyes, his dark brown hair falling over his face. His expression soon changed to one of quiet delight, however.

"Henrietta Sunderland! How are you?" he asked, his eyescrinkeling briefly in what appeared to be happiness. It was the most emotion Henrietta had ever seen from the normally quiet, withdrawn man. So happy to see a living human, and her friend Henry in particular, Henrietta almost forgot why she was here.

"Oh! I'm sorry to barge in on you like this, Henry, but I am really worried. Have you seen my grandfather around here? I went to his apartment, but no one was there, and he has not answered his phone in over a week!" her face scrunched up slightly for a moment. "And what exactly is happening here? Where are all of the tenants, what happened to your home?" she continued on, her words coming faster as the situation started to close in on her.

Henry gave a hesitant smile, and raised his hands helplessly. "I don't really understand myself what has happened, Henri. When I woke up last week, every thing was like this, turned into a nightmare. I'm sorry, but I don't know what happened to Frank. I have not seen anyone all week, and I can't seem to leave this building," he finished, his husky voice taking on a note of sadness.

Distressed, Henrietta's shoulders slumped. "Really? I'm sorry, Henry. If I had known, I would have come sooner," Henrietta said, now feeling extremely hopeless. Where on earth were her grandfather and the other residents?

She was startled out of her misery by Henry, who placed his broad hand on her shoulder and smiled kindly down at her. "It's not your fault, Henri. No one could have stopped this, I think. But I _have_ seen something very strange in my laundry room that might be of interest to you."

"Your laundry room?" Henri asked, "Something even stranger that the rest of the apartment?"

He nodded. "Yes. I have no idea what it is, but I have a feeling that it could give you some clue as to what happened to Frank."

Her attention was caught immediately. "Really?"

"Yeah," he said, "why don't we go check it out?" Henrietta nodded at once, and Henry led her to the laundry room near the front door.

The moment Henrietta stepped out of the bathroom, she was at once assaulted by the sudden chill in the atmosphere of 302. Was it just her imagination, or had the lights dimmed once again? In this surreal apartment, it was becoming difficult to tell the difference between the horrific run of her imagination and the terrifying transformation of Henry's home. Glancing at Henry just ahead of her, Henrietta wondered how the quiet young man had managed to keep his sanity all alone in this nightmare.

Henry had soon reached the door of the small room that served as his laundry and storage room, and held the door open for Henrietta. She thanked him quietly, and gazed about the room.

Just as in the rest of the apartment, the walls were spattered with blood. The front of the dryer was open, and it almost looked as if the entire structure was filled with blood. Where the hell had all of this blood come from? Henri was also surprised to see what looked to be a steel pipe sitting on top of the washer. Of course, nether the horrid state of the room or the unexplained pipe surprised Henrietta as much as the clearly defined hole in the wall next to the washer.

Staring at it incredulously, Henri noticed that the hole was surrounded by four placards, though what was on them was a mystery in the dim lighting. "Unbelievable. When did this show up? Who dug it? Do you know where it goes, Henry?" Henrietta asked, turning around to look at the man behind her.

Henry…didn't answer her. As a matter of fact, he did not look at her at all. He was staring intently down at his feet, gripping his hands into fists. He had a grimace on his face, and seemed to be struggling against something.

"Henry, are you okay? What's wrong?" Henri asked, concerned. Henry still did not answer. Inexplicably, Henri began to feel nervous. Something was defiantly off about Henry. She had never seen such a terrible scowl on his face before.

She was about to question Henry again, but a sudden noise behind her had her spinning around to look at the hole. Something that sounded very much like a distant screaming was coming from the opening:

"Hen…b…ful…Walt…! Henr…de…! RUN!" Her heart in her throat, Henrietta realized that the voice screaming in broken speech sounded very familiar.

"Grandpa! How…Henry…!" she swiveled around to question Henry, but stopped abruptly. While Henry had previously been standing at the door, he was now right behind her, looking down at her mournfully. He clutched the pipe that had been on the washer in his hands. But none of these things would have bothered her if not for the fact that, within the space of seconds, Henry Townshend had changed dramatically.

His once immaculate white shirt and undershirt were covered in blood, and his chest looked to have been riddled with bullets. A trickle of blood ran from a corner of his mouth, and his skin, once healthy and slightly tanned, was now ashen and gray.

Henrietta jumped back. "Henry…my god Henry! What happened to…" Henri stammered, terrified. Henry (or the being that was once Henry) continued to look back at her sadly. He slowly approached her, the pipe still in his hands, forcing her to move farther back, towards the hole.

When she could go no farther, he suddenly thrust the pipe at her. She closed her eyes tightly, bracing for the pain, but it never came. She slowly opened her eyes and realized that Henry was holding the pipe out in front of himself, waiting. Henrietta cautiously took hold of the pipe. When she did, he smiled almost fondly at her, and placed his cold hands on her shoulders.

She stared back at him, horribly fascinated. The once handsome, gentle young man almost looked like he was about to cry. Without further adieu, the creature wearing Henry Townshend's face pushed Henrietta into the hole.

As she began to slide down into the unfathomable darkness, the last thing she heard was a chocked "I'm so sorry…"

**End Chapter One**

So that's it for chapter one. A little slow, but this was the introductory chapter, so it couldn't be avoided. Please drop me a review and tell me what you think!


	2. He Disappeared

Disclaimer: I do not own Silent Hill or any of its characters. The only thing I own is this plot and my original characters, including Henrietta Sunderland. The directions mentioned in this chapter can be found in BradyGames' Silent Hill 2 strategy guide.

A/N: You might have noticed that Henrietta's reactions to bizarre situations seem odd—this is actually deliberate on my part, as there are a number of reasons behind her behavior. These reasons will be revealed later.

Also, the beginning of this chapter has lime-ish M/F content. If you are not comfortable with this, please feel free to skip over it.

Thank you for those who reviewed my last chapter! Remember, constructive criticism is always welcome.

Dreams are indicated by DDD and italicized words. Thought is indicated by '…'

**Chapter Two: He Disappeared **

DDD

_She felt as though she was drifting through a sea of fog. Her mind couldn't seem to settle in one place, she was so drowsy. Blinking slowly, Henrietta regained consciousness. Looking around in confusion, she tried to remember where she was. The memory of Henry and the South Ashfield Heights apartments came rushing back to her, causing her to gasp. Frantically, Henrietta tried to remember what had happened. _

_She remembered that the corpse-like Henry had pushed her into the strange hole in apartment 302. What had happened to Henry? Who had killed him, and caused the apartment building to turn into a monstrosity? Her mind raced; she remembered also that she had heard her grandfather's voice coming from the hole. Was he here now, wherever she was?_

_Looking around again, she tried to take in the room around her. She did not recognize it at all, though that was not saying much, as the room was pitch black, save for a small sliver of moon light coming in through the window to her right. From that little amount of light, she could tell that she was laying on a king sized bed. The bed sheets seemed to be black, but it was hard to tell, and all of her cloths seemed to be in order. By her side, near the window, was a small table which had nothing on it. Besides these things, it was almost impossible to see the rest of the room, though she had the impression, from the lay of shadows, that it was fairly large. _

_The sheets where very soft and comfortable, though they had a strangely musky scent to them, almost like an animal slept on them regularly. For reasons she could not explain, the smell was almost attractive. _

_Cautiously, Henri swung her legs over the side of the bed, and moved to stand. She had walked no more than a foot from the bed when she was yanked back abruptly._

_Startled, she looked behind her to see what was holding her back, and was surprised to see that her right wrist was shackled to the bed post. Incredulously, Henri looked at the two feet of chain that connected her to the bed. How had she not noticed THIS before?_

_The shock of seeing the chain seemed to remind Henri that she was in a very strange situation. She still did not know where she was, or what had happened to her grandfather Frank. Where exactly had that hole taken her, and who had cuffed her to a bed?_

_Just when she thought she was finally starting to calm herself down, the light from the moon dwindled even more as the sky became overcast. It was about this same time when Henri heard the sound of a door in the room she was in open slowly._

_Standing completely still, Henri listened anxiously as the heavy, slow foot steps came closer. A familiar smell reached her nose, and a part of her mind realized that this was just like the smell of the sheets. It would appear that the resident had returned. _

_The figure, bathed completely in shadow, come ever closer. The vague outline appeared to be a tall male, with a lean, muscular build. His smell was beginning to make her feel…weird. Against her will, her body began to shake ever so slightly. Her fear began to rise, but she could not look away from the approaching figure. _

_He finally stopped within inches of her. Though she could not make out his features, she was sure he was staring down at her. She tried to open her mouth to speak, but her will seemed to fail her, and she remained still and silent, looking up at where she thought his face would be—a good foot above her own. She felt a subtle heat rising from his skin, and her shaking increased even more. She was starting to panic—why could she not seem to take control of herself? _

_She was startled from her reverie when she heard a deep sound above her. Had he just…growled? It had not seemed like a human sound at all. What was he? Come to think of it, she had never heard of a human having such a musky scent. It wasn't the unpleasant smell of a man's sweat after all, but an actual, animal-like musk. A heady smell…Her mind was drifting again, but she was brought back swiftly when she felt large hands (yes, hands) fall on her shoulders. _

_Henri could almost feel herself break into a cold sweat when he lowered his head down to the level of her neck. He seemed very interested in this particular area, and began to… 'Is he sniffing my neck?' she thought, incredulous. Whatever he smelled seemed to please him, and he let out a contented growl. 'This guy…he's really not human at all, is he?' Henri thought, worry increasing tenfold when she was abruptly pulled against a warm chest._

_The creature, whatever he was, buried his nose farther down her neck, and promptly bit, causing Henri to jump in surprise. He had a set of fangs! He seemed to have bitten just hard enough to draw blood, and Henri could feel him lapping it up. As her mind tried to adjust to this new problem, Henri heard another sound coming from his chest. He seemed to be…purring? _

_Having finally reached her limit, Henri abruptly shook off what ever was preventing her from fighting him. With a determination that took up every last ounce of her will, Henri put her hands on the creature's chest and pushed with all her might. He stumbled back only slightly, and Henri had an idea that it was surprise which drove him back rather than her measly strength. "Back off!" she yelled in a shaky voice, trying to back away from him. _

_Unfortunately, she was quickly reminded of her first problem when the chain would not let her back up any farther. Feeling her heart pound, she realized that she could not escape him. The creature gave a far more menacing growl after he realized that she had pushed him away. _

_He swiftly grabbed her shoulders and threw her onto the bed. The strength in the throw caused her to bounce briefly once her back hit the bed. Once her vision had cleared, she noticed that he had jumped onto the bed after her, and now kneeled above her. She stared up at him, trying to put on a brave front even as she shook with fear on the inside. At this angle she still could not see his face clearly, but she noticed that he seemed to have long hair which brushed past his shoulders. Maybe it was just her imagination, but it almost looked like his eyes were glowing a faint red. _

_Once settled, he pinned her free hand above her head. He deftly forced her thighs apart and maneuvered his hips between them. He gave a sensual growl, and lowered his mouth to her neck again, nipping and sucking. To her great embarrassment, she realized that her body was beginning to respond to him, and she had to force herself from wrapping her legs around his narrow hips and bringing them down closer to her body. _

_He somehow seemed to know how she felt. The purring had started once again from his chest, and he ran his free hand from her hip to underneath her knee. He raised her knee up, hooking it around his waist, pushing down into her at the same time. Now fully pressed up against him, she gave a startled gasp as pleasure coursed through her. Even to a virgin like herself, there was absolutely no doubt what was pressing insistently between her legs, even through her pants. _

_His breathing accelerated and his smell became even more prominent. 'Pheromones…?' some clear part of her mind wondered. His mouth wandered down to the junction of her neck and shoulders. He suddenly sunk both fangs into her flesh. A mix of both pleasure and pain forced Henri to give a stained moan. Overwhelmed, Henri felt herself fall into unconsciousness. _

DDD

Henri woke up with a start. She glanced around feverishly, noticing that many things had changed: she was not in a bedroom, it was not night, and she was certainly not in a compromising position with a male humanoid. Blushing profusely, she realized that she had just hadthe first erotic dream everinher life. 'What does it say about me that my first ever erotic dream was about a non-human?' Henri wondered, sardonically.

Trying to forget the bizarre dream, Henri shook her head—only to notice that something was lying by her leg. The steel pipe. So, THAT part had not been a dream. She was obviously outside somewhere—it was so incredibly foggy that Henri really couldn't tell what was around her. She stood shakily and walked forward, only to bump into something. It was a grave stone. Squinting into the area beyond, she realized that she was indeed in a graveyard.

How pleasant.

She turned briefly and walked behind her. There was a pair of massive iron gates behind her, but they would not budge. More to the point, it looked as though the lock on the gate was fused shut. "Not leaving that way," Henri said to herself, letting out an exasperated sigh.

Turning again, she picked up the steel pipe that Henry Townshend had given her and wandered around the graveyard, looking for an exit. She finally found another pair of gates to the left of where she had awoken. Exiting through the gates, she walked cautiously up the fog-choked dirt road, occasionally passing an empty car. She finally drew close to a fenced in area, and learned where she was when she read the sign nearby: "Silent Hill Ranch".

"Silent Hill?" Henri wondered out loud. "It figures…I'm probably going to disappear just like Uncle James. What the hell is wrong with this town? Why did that hole take me here?" Henri was beginning to wonder whether or not her grandfather was here at all. Maybe some sadistic force had been toying with her mind and made her imagine that she had heard her grandfather's voice from the hole. And, if Grandpa Frank _was_ here…how on Earth was she going to find him? Determined to find some answers, Henri walked on past the ranch, and eventually walked past a dry river bed.

The pathway merged into Wiltse Road. The long walk eventually led her into the town proper, and Wiltse merged into Sanders Street. If anything, the fog had gotten worse. She could barely see three feet in front of her. Perhaps what worried her most was that, despite the fact that it was about noon (according to her watch) the town seemed to be deserted. Silent Hill was a resort town, and for it to be deathly quiet and almost cold in the middle of the summer was extremely unnatural. Then again,_' _Henri thought, _'_what about this day has not been unnatural?_'_

Across the street from the intersection of Wiltse and Sanders was a flower shop. She tried to open the doors, but they were locked. The section of Sanders St. to the east of the flower shop resulted in nothing but two dead ends. Going west on Sanders St., Henri felt her unease grow. Shops and private homes lined the street, but every thing was locked and deserted. The fog continued to impede her vision, and the chill in the air only grew.

Dressed for the July heat as she was, in only a light pair of cargo pants and a tank-top, Henri was forced to wrap her hands around herself. She shivered in the cold, damp air, and wished she could find a building to take shelter in. When she came to the intersection of Sanders and Lindsey St., Henri turned left. She was shaken abruptly from her worries about the cold when she looked down at the pavement in front of her and found what appeared to be significant streaks of blood heading down the road in front of her…as if a body had been dragged.

Going deathly still, Henri wondered whether or not she should proceed. Raising her pipe slightly, she walked down the street. She soon reached an unnatural-looking dead end. The street ended abruptly when a series of boards blocked the road between two buildings.

And in front of this blockade was the body of a man.

A chill ran through Henri's blood as she moved closer to the corpse. The trail of blood led to him. His eyes where opened wide, his mouth twisted in an expression of horror. He lay sprawled on the ground, his chest torn open. It looked like something had begun to eat his intestines, but then decided it did not care for them and abandoned the body. He was starting to emit the smell of decay.

Flinching back in disgust, Henri was about to back away when noticed something else about the wall behind the man. It looked as though the man's blood had been used to scrawl a message on the boards.

"'Here lies the Key of Rebirth'," Henri said the words out load. "What does that…" Looking down at the body, Henri realized that there was a key clasped in the hand. "No way." As much as she would have liked to ignore this disturbing event, Henri had the unnerving feeling that this scene had been placed for her benefit. She tentatively approached the body, taking the key out of its hand. Apparently, the man had died within the last day or so, because she had to pry the figures apart, as if the body was still in rigor mortis. It wasn't a comforting thought.

Looking closer at the key, Henri noticed that word were etched into the head: "WP: cell 2-5". _"_Cell? Like a prison cell?"Henri wondered. Did this mean that she would find something significant in a prison? But what prison? She had never heard of a prison in Silent Hill. And what was "WP"? Hooking the key onthe key ring in one of her pockets, Henri turned and walked away from the body. She paused at the end of the street, unsure where to go from there. She eventually turned left onto Sanders once again.

Her stomach was starting to growl_. '_How long has it been since I have eaten?' She asked herself. Come to think of it, it was the beginning of the afternoon in Silent Hill. It had been eight o'clock at night when Henri had gotten to South Ashfield Heights Apartments, which meant that she had to have been unconscious for at least seventeen hours in that cemetery.

Although, it did seem strange that she had not been cold when she had awoken, even though she had been laying in the freezing graveyard for so long.

'It has been at least a day. I only had had breakfast before I went to South Ashfield,' she realized. Continuing slowly down the street, she did find Gonzale's Mexican Restaurant and Bar Neely's across the street, but both where closed and locked. Across from Bar Neely's was a Happy Burger. She was extremely happy to find that the door to Happy Burger was unlocked.

Walking inside, she was relieved to feel that the building was much warmer than outside. The inside was tidy, but there was still no sign of human life. Walking behind the counter, she was happily surprised to see that there were slightly warm fries in the container next to the fryers, and chicken fingers in the heating ovens. The soda fountains where even working.

Sitting down at a table with her food, Henri thought over the events of the past day. It had all started with her mother's frantic phone call at one in the morning. According to her mother, Jamie Sunderland, Henrietta's grandfather, Frank, had not called in over three weeks, and had not responded to any of the phone calls made by Jamie one week ago. This was strange because Frank usually called both Jamie and Henrietta at least once every two weeks, some times twice. He was as paranoid about the safety of his family as Jamie was.

Neither of them had been so paranoid before seven years ago. That was when, about one week after his wife Mary's death, James Sunderland had disappeared in the town of Silent Hill. Mary had requested to be buried in Silent Hill, so James' family had at first believed that he had hidden himself away there until he could cope with his wife's death.

However, one month afterwards, no one had heard one word from James. He had neither called nor written to his beloved twin sister Jamie, his father Frank, or his workplace. It was very unusual for him because he and Jamie had been very close, and he loved his young niece Henrietta. Jamie and Frank had gone to Silent Hill personally to search for him, but came up empty handed. Even the workers of the Lake View Hotel, James' and Mary's favorite place, had not seem him since before Mary's death.

They had tried to place a missing persons report with the local police, but the cops claimed that there was no evidence that James had not disappeared of his own accord, and, as a fully grown man, he was able to take care of himself.

'It's been quite a long while since I thought of Uncle James,' Henrietta thought mournfully. James had been as close to a father figure that Henri had ever had, as Henri's biological father, whoever he was, had disappeared before she was ever born. It had been extremely difficult for a scared, jobless high school grad like Jamie Sunderland to raise a child by herself. She had even once admitted to Henri that she had contemplated having an abortion, but her twin brother James had talked her out of it.

James had helped his sister to raise Henri from the very beginning, helping Jamie care for the baby, babysitting, even helping financially. If it where not for the money saved away for Henrietta by James and Frank, Henri doubted she would have even been able to go to college right out of high school.

Henri had been fourteen when James disappeared, and it felt like she had lost her father. Her mourning had been as great as either Frank's or Jamie's. However, she realized that she had to shake it off if the family ever wanted to move on.

Jamie was no help; even now, seven years later, she still showed signs of the shock of loosing her brother. Two years after James disappeared, Jamie was finally capable of going to work and taking care of herself. Before that, Henri had had to work part time, go to school, help to pay the bills, and look after her mother's mental health.

Grandpa Frank helped with the money, but life for the teenage Henrietta was still very difficult around her weak mother. It had been the worst two years of her life.

And now here she was, possibly in the same situation as her Uncle James had been. Henri was about to embark on a mission to find her grandfather. Had Uncle James been searching for someone too? She'd often wondered, privately, if he had killed himself under the strain of his wife's death.

Sighing heavily, Henri threw away her trash and prepared to leave. She hesitated at the door, looking at the fog-covered street outside. She really did not want to leave the restaurant, but what choice did she have?

She was about to step outside when she heard a strange sound behind her. Turning quickly, Henri paused for a moment, listening. It sounded almost like…sizzling. It was coming from behind the counter. Walking back, Henri noticed that one of the deep fryers had suddenly, and apparently spontaneously, come to life.

Henri approached slowly. Seeing nothing that seemed dangerous, Henri turned the fryer off. Looking into the cooking oil in the fryer, Henri could vaguely see something in the bottom of the fryer's basket. Lifting the basket, Henri found that it was another key. Looking closer at the key, Henri could not find any indication of what the key unlocked. Somehow not surprised by the strange placement of the key, Henri put this key too on her keychain.

Stepping outside, Henri continued westward on Sanders. After only a few moments, Henri felt something wet and light fall on to her nose. Looking up in question, Henri could barely believe her eyes. It was snowing! Snowing for God's sake, in the middle of July! Now even more uncomfortable with her choice of clothing, Henri wrapped her arms around herself. The chill was becoming unbearable.

She came almost immediately to the intersection of Sanders and Neely. She decided to turn left on Neely. Just as she was about to reach the intersection of Neely and Saul, she received yet another shock; just past the intersection, Neely Street just—disappeared. Walking to the edge, Henri looked down incredulously. A wide chasm encompassing the entire street gaped before her. It was like someone had opened a volcanic fault line; she swore she could see molten lava over the jagged edge.

Despite everything her grandfather had ever told her…apparently, the sidewalk did end. Abruptly. Turning and walking away from the chasm, Henri walked onto Saul Street. There wasn't much left of this street; most of the surrounding buildings were virtually destroyed. This street too ended in a boarded up dead end, similar to the one that blocked Lindsey Street. All that remained intact was a small white trailer. She walked up to the door and knocked. Receiving no answer, Henri turned the door knob. It opened without hesitation.

The interior was well-kept. She noticed a large folded paper on the couch. Picking it up, she noted it to be a map of Silent Hill. The map had a series of markings, and told Henri that she was currently in the neighborhood of South Vale. There was a circle at the entrance of the Blue Creek Apartments on Monson Street, one at a Texxon Gas station, one at the Silent Hill Historical Society, and another at the Lake View Hotel across Toluca Lake. There was a square around a building on the North end of Lindsey Street called South Silent Hill Fire Station, as well as a triangle around St. Stella Church on Nathan Avenue.

"Maybe there will be some clues as to what is happening around here in these places," Henri said aloud. "Or maybe just traps." The closest marked area to her was the Blue Creek Apartment complex on Monson. Because Saul was blocked off, she would have to try going through Katz St. She would have to go North on Neely, as she had noticed that Harris Street, between Saul and Katz, was also blocked.

She exited the trailer and headed towards Neely, beginning her journey deeper into the deserted town.


	3. Strange Encounters

Disclaimer: I do not own Silent Hill or any of its characters. I only own my OC's and this plot.

A/N: This is a strange chapter, but it's meant to be. The source of Henrietta's unusual personality will eventually be revealed, but not for a while.

As always, beware of the SH1-SH4 spoilers throughout this story. Also, there is one curse word in this chapter.

Please enjoy :)

**Chapter 3: Strange Encounters**

The snow was still falling softly, and the fog still hung heavily in the air on Neely St. The silence was astounding, the silence was…suddenly broken.

Stopping abruptly, Henri looked around her, nerves on edge. She could have sworn that she had just heard footsteps that did not belong to her. As she stood, she did indeed hear footsteps.

There was something wrong with the steps. They did not sound human; she could hear what sounded like nails scrapping against the pavement. Henri thought, perhaps, that a dog was coming towards her. As the sounds came closer, she could see a figure coming towards her in the fog. Her breathing abruptly halted.

It might have been a dog…at one time. It certainly was not anymore.

It had no fur. Rather, it had dark, sickly, pink hued skin. It had neither visible ears, nor eyes, nor a tail. The skin covering it was patchy; she could see stitches and had the horrible impression that the creature had been sewn together from the skin of other animals. It walked slowly towards her, two tongues lolling out of a mouth that appeared to have at least two rows of razor-sharp teeth. Intently staring at the animal, Henri began to back up slowly…and bumped into something.

She heard a sudden growl. Jerking her head around, Henri saw another one of these dog-like creatures had run into her.

After hearing the growl of its brother, the first dog she had seen came trotting over. The dogs began sniffing her intently, taking short licks of her arms. Henri was certain she was going to die; there was no way she could even hit one of the two dogs with the pipe without being wide open for attack by the other. Closing her eyes, Henri waited for the end to come, but…nothing happened.

Brows furrowed in confusion, Henri looked down. The dogs were making no move to strike, merely sniffing in curiosity. One dog let out a small 'woof' and turned and walked away. The other dog followed shortly thereafter.

Floored with shock, Henri watched the two dogs wander off, wondering what had just happened. She was sure she was doggy food, perhaps like that poor man at the south end of Lindsey. They had known she was there, had smelled and tasted her skin. So, why was she alive, completely unharmed? It didn't make sense, but she wasn't about to complain. More on the alert, Henri continued up Neely.

Five minutes later, as she reached the intersection of Neely and Katz, Henri was still very confused. She had encountered no less than four other Gruesome Mosaics, and had received the same reaction from them as she had from the first two; they approached her, sniffed her, licked her, and walked away. Taking a left onto Katz, Henri walked towards Monson, unbothered by the three Gruesome Mosaics wandering the street. Taking a right onto Monson, Henri found the entrance of the Blue Creek Apartments.

Taking out the key chain, Henri used the key she found in the deep fryer to unlock the front doors. The inside of the building was dank and dark. There was little light in the lobby, but, just to the right, Henri was a post board on the wall. On the board was a map of the apartments. Taking the map down, Henri took a look at it. Just like on the Silent Hill map, there was one circle marking the Blue Creek. In was in room 105. She walked to the door leading out of the stairwell, but found it locked; the key would not unlock it. Sighing in exasperation, Henri walked up the stairs in search of a solution.

The second floor was completely dark. Muttering darkly herself, Henri found a lit laundry room to the left. Looking around, Henri searched for anything useful.

She saw something strange; in the lit room, there seemed to be an area lit between the washer and dryer that should not have been lit. Moving the washer aside slightly, Henri found that a small pocket flashlight shone between the appliances. Eyes narrowed in suspicion, she picked it up and turned to explore the rest of the floor.

To the right of the stairwell, Henri began to explore. Rooms 201, 202, 205, and 204 where all locked. 203, however, was not. Cautiously, she turned the knob and entered. The apartment's living room was in shambles; there did not appear to be any furniture save a few chairs in the room. There was a kitchenette across from the entrance way, and the few other doors off the living room were all locked.

Henrietta was about to leave the room, but stopped abruptly when her flashlight reflected off of something metallic in the kitchenette. Inside the kitchenette, Henri saw a key hanging on the refrigerator door. Taking it down, Henri read "Apt. 302" on the head. Not even bothering to wonder why the key to apartment 302 would be in 203, Henri returned to the hallway.

The rest of the doors on the second floor were also locked. She then walked up to the third floor using the northern stairwell. Exiting across from room 308, Henri turned left. The doors on this floor were strange. Although some where just locked, 306 and 309 were actually…plastered over. It was a very unnerving sight in this pitch-black hallway. She found all doors on this floor locked.

Reaching apartment 302, Henri unlocked the door and entered. It was in as good a shape as 203 had been, but there was some furniture in the living room. On a table next to the entrance, Henri found a newspaper. She was about to read it when she heard something coming from an open doorway to the left.

Something staggered out of the doorway. Jerking back, Henri gaped at the monster before her.

It walked upright on two legs. But that was where the human similarities ended. It was about seven feet tall, and had four arms. The top pair looked like they had regular human hands, but the bottom pair were almost like spear heads, narrow and sharply pointed. Its flesh was an unpleasant brown, and looked very slick. It had a narrow, humanoid chest. It had a face, more or less. There were definitely eyes, totally black, and slits in place of a nose. It didn't appear at first to have a mouth, but Henri wouldn't bet on it. From the back of its head, hundreds of thick strands of flesh cascaded down its back, making it look like the creature had dreadlocks.

The beast walked with an awkward gate, slightly hunched over. Its eyes were downcast, its manor quiet. That changed very quickly when it looked up and saw Henri. Its eyes widened unbelievably, and a small chasm suddenly opened up in its face to reveal a toothy mouth that emitted an earth-shaking roar. As it charged towards Henri, she raised her pipe in an effort of self-defense.

Not at all intimidated, the Dread continued its charge. Scared out of her mind now, unsure she could defeat a monster nearly twice her size, Henri felt a haze settle over her mind. Inexplicably, she felt a sudden fury wash over her and an angry roar fill her head.

"ENOUGH!" she yelled, absolutely incensed.

The feeling of the room suddenly darkened, like a chilling shadow had passed over the apartment. The Dread stopped suddenly, falling to its knees. The creature clutched its head, moaning in pain, shaking. It dejectedly crawled into the corner of the room, staring at her sadly. Like a kicked puppy. She almost felt sorry for it, though, as her mind began to clear, she had no idea what happened to it.

It was remarkable how much the creature looked like a scolded child, curled up in the corner as it was. Henri felt somewhat guilty, although she wasn't sure why.

Hesitating, wondering at what point it was that she had gone insane, Henri began to approach the Dread. It looked more scared as she got closer, and she couldn't help but wonder if this creature was in fact not yet an adult. She kneeled down a few feet away from it…him, she thought, and began talking softy.

"Are you okay? I'm sorry; I didn't mean to scare you." The creature looked hesitant, but uncurled itself slightly.

Against every instinct she had, she reached out slowly and began to stroke one of its humanoid hands. It made a soft, curious sound, sitting up fully. It slowly loosened up, and gave a strange little snort as Henri stroked the side of its face. She was relieved to find that the skin did not receive its shine from sliminess; in fact, it felt rather human-like. She patted the top of his head, smiled hesitantly at him, and then began to back away slowly.

While he watched her curiously, Henri went back to the table by the door, careful to keep one eye on the creature as he sat in the corner of the room. The newspaper she had first seen looked slightly yellow. Looking at the date, she could understand why. This newspaper was dated nearly _twenty three years_ ago. 'What is a 23-year-old newspaper doing in someone's living room?' Henri wondered.

The paper, The Silent Hill Gazette, had a rather bold headline: "Teenage Girl Raped in What Is Believed to be a Satanic Ritual". Furrowing her brows slightly, Henrietta read the brief article:

_On January 20th, a female, eighteen-year-old high school student was found brutally raped in an abandoned church just north of Lakeside Amusement Park. She was found unconscious from a combination of shock and blood loss. It has been reported that she was lying on an altar, her body covered in bizarre patterns, believed to be drawn in blood. A mutilated pig was found in the outside perimeters of the church, and the police have reason to believe that the animal was the source of the blood used to draw on the girl. For these reasons, it is strongly believed by some residents that this rape was committed by the underground cult which has long been rumored to exist in Silent Hill. The police strongly dispute this claim, denying the existence of any such cult. They claim that the rape was most likely perpetrated by a group of teenagers who probably took a prank too far. The girl in stable condition, and is expected to make a full recovery._

"A cult in Silent Hill?" Henri stared at the article, aghast. She had never heard such a thing. And what would a cult gain from raping a teenaged girl? "What is this, some horrific rendition of 'Rosemary's Baby'?"

Perhaps the question she should be asking herself was what the significance of this decades old article in this nightmare apartment was. She had yet to see anything in this version of Silent Hill that did not have some deeper meaning. Was this supposed to be some clue as to why she was here?

She tucked the newspaper inside her pocket, deciding it might be important. Henri then looked over towards the room from which the Dread had come. Entering the room, she was happy to see that he was the only one in there. This room appeared to be a bedroom. Overall, the décor was tasteful, but she couldn't help but think that the blood covering the walls was an unnecessary addition. Otherwise, there appeared to be nothing of any real interest in the bedroom. There was another room leading from the bedroom, which Henri assumed to be the bathroom.

It was the bathroom, but Henri was shocked into stillness to find that it was occupied…sort of. A dead woman lay in the bathtub. It looked like her face had been ripped off. Henri wondered if the Dread had done this. Looking closer at the body, Henri noticed that, like the first body she had found, there was a key clutched in its hand. Removing the key, Henri found the words, 'Stairway Door' on the head.

Exiting the bathroom, Henri walked back into the living room. The Dread was still sitting on the floor, apparently waiting for her to come back, as it stood upon her reentrance.

Not sure what to think of this, Henri cautiously walked towards the front door. She had the door open and was just about to leave when the monster gave a low whine and rushed towards her. Startled and devoid of the strange courage that had overtaken her previously, Henri was frozen in her tracks at the sudden movement.

However, the Dread did not tear her head off as she was afraid. Instead, the monster stopped directly in front of her, looking down at her expectantly. Did it want something from her? She slowly exited the room, and the Dread followed after her. To her nervous surprise, the creature followed her all the way down to the first floor, where she used the key from 302 to unlock the first floor entry.

Room 105 was almost directly across from the stairwell, and Henri was happy to find it unlocked. She entered the room, followed closely by the Dread, who, despite his great size, made very little noise as he moved about. There was very little in this living room, save for an open roller-top desk.

However, there was something very interesting in the desk: a handgun.

Though she had never had a gun herself, Henri's grandfather had taught her how to use one. This was a very simplistic pistol that loaded via a slide-in handle clip. She was surprised to see that the magazine was full, a total of ten bullets in the clip. There was also a full box of ten bullets next to the pistol. She felt uneasy about taking the weapon, but…looking briefly at the gigantic beast standing next to her, Henri could not help but feel that she might need it.

Putting the bullets in a pocket and placing the safety on the gun, Henri looked around the room. Every other room was locked, and only the kitchenette was open. There was something very strange in the kitchenette. On the counter, there was an unmarked bottle filled with a white liquid. Was it milk? She highly doubted it.

Was this, perhaps, why apartment 105 had been circled? She decided to take the bottle with her, just in case. However, how was she to carry it? She was running out of pockets, and she needed a bag. She walked around the living room, hoping to find something she could carry the bottle in, but was unsuccessful.

Walking to what was probably the bedroom door, Henri tried to force the door open, and then tried to use a thin piece of floor debris to jimmy the door open. Both failed. Sighing in exasperation, Henri kicked the door.

She was lost in thought, trying to figure out how to open the door, and didn't see the Dread approach. When she finally did, she saw him use his bottom set of arms to slice the lock off of the door. She watched the door swing open, incredulous. She looked up at the monster.

He somehow managed to look pretty proud of himself.

"…Thank you," she said, and the creature gave a strangely human-like grunt.

The bedroom was mercifully free of bodies. Casing the room, she eventually found a back pack in the closet, put the bottle and newspaper in it, and slung the long straps over her shoulders. She found nothing else of interest in the room and left the apartment, the Dread right behind her. There were no other unlocked doors on the first floor, so she exited the Blue Creek and walked back onto Monson. As she had expected, the Dread followed her out.

Looking at the monster, Henri was still at a loss as to why he was following her.

"Are you planning to follow me everywhere?" she asked.

The Dread cocked his head curiously, and let out an inquisitive whine. Henri sighed, guessing that that was as good an answer as she was going to get.

"Well, I guess I ought to call you something, then. How about…Michael? Mundane, I know, but I could use 'mundane' right about now. So, is Michael okay for you?" The monster made another gruff sound, though who knew if he really understood.

The snow outside continued to fall, lightly. A pair of Gruesome Mosaics walked by, unconcerned by either Henri or Michael. Henri set out north, only briefly wondering why she did not feel more nervous about her new travel companion.

She then took a right onto Nathan Ave. She decided to go to the fire station first, and walked past St. Stella's to the entrance of the station. However, she was very hesitant to enter when she noticed what was right in front of the entrance.

The bodies of two Gruesome Mosaics lay scrawled, both appearing to have been shot several times with a large caliber gun.

While this should have made her feel relieved, owing to fact that there might be living humans around, it did not. For some reason, the sight made her very nervous—even more so than when she had met the first pair of Gruesome Mosaics.

Apparently, Michael did not like it either, if the low growls he was making where any indicator. While Henri entered the firehouse, Michael remained outside, seemingly not trusting something inside. He made a nervous sort of sound as she went in, but Henri reassured him she would be careful, and moved on.

The inside of the bottom floor was lit only by the light streaming in from outside. Naturally, the place was in shambles, and Henri could see the corpses of bizarre, mannequin-like creatures lying on the floor. As she walked up the stairs to the second floor, the windows were covered by boards, and Henri had to rely on the flashlight to see. The top landing led off into three different rooms: the Director's Office, the Fireman's Lounge, and the Records Room.

The Firemen's Lounge was basically a recreational facility for the firemen, as well as living quarters for the professionals. The only thing of real interest was the ax Henri found on one of the beds. She tucked it into the loop of her pants and left the room. The Director's Office was locked, so she walked into the Records Room.

She was stopped short when she suddenly found the barrel of a gun in her face.

Raising her hands quickly, Henri stared stunned at the man before her. The flashlight showed a man in his early forties, with short, light brown hair and a slightly wild look in his eyes. More disturbing however was the fact that he appeared to be wearing a scarlet robe—reminiscent of how she had always pictured Druids.

"Sorry for intruding," Henri said, trying to convince the man that there was no reason to shoot her. Upon hearing her voice, the man lowered the gun slowly.

"Sorry about that, young lady," the man said, his voice carrying a slightly Southern tinge. "I thought you were one of the monsters." Not sure that her desired response of "Likewise" would go over too well with a man in a red robe holding a revolver, Henri just shook her head slowly.

"No, it's OK. My name is Henrietta Sunderland. May I ask who you are? You're the first human I've seen all day."

"I'm not surprised," the man said, giving a sigh and replacing the revolver into the holster on his belt. "My name is Shelton Palmer. I came to this town a couple of days ago on a job. When I got here, everything was normal. The townspeople were all here, and there where tourists everywhere. Yesterday, everything changed. Now this place is freezing cold, deserted, and full of monsters."

Shelton grimaced here. "Everywhere I turn, there are goddamn freakish dogs and living mannequins. Fuckin' dogs keep trying to tear my throat out. Been killin' them right and left, but they just keep coming."

Somehow both surprised and not surprised by this confirmation that it was likely the Gruesome Mosaics killing the few survivors on the streets of Silent Hill, Henri remained quiet on the subject. Some instinct inside of her warned her not to explain to this strange man that the monsters left her alone.

"Anyway," Shelton continued, "Are you a resident of Silent Hill?" This he asked with a rather suspicious look in his eyes.

Henri shook her head. "I live in Pleasant River, currently. I came here just yesterday looking for my grandfather. He disappeared in this town a few weeks ago."

A part of Henrietta was surprised at how easily the altered truth came from her mouth, for she had not actually thought of telling a lie to this man. However, that same instinct that warned her not to speak of Michael also told her not to trust Palmer.

"What are you doing here in the Firehouse Records Room?" Henri then asked, eager to get off of the subject of her own situation.

Shelton did not seem to notice the abruptness of the question and answered, "I am looking for records of a massive fire that occurred here a couple of decades ago. Destroyed part of the town. It is said to have started in some home in the northern part of the town, across Lake Toluca." He appeared to be thinking of something and hastily added, "I am a private investigator, and I was hired to find a missing girl that is believed to have survived that fire."

Henrietta nodded in understanding, all the while not believing this hastily made cover story. Last Henri had known, one of the primary goals of a PI was to be as inconspicuous as possible.

Walking around in a flamboyant scarlet robe didn't seem to fit the bill.

However, there could be some truth to the fire. Henri vaguely remembered hearing of a devastating fire having taken place in Silent Hill shortly before her birth. If she remembered correctly, she had learned about it in elementary school back in South Ashfield. Suddenly, a thought occurred to Henri.

"You say you've been here a couple of days, right? Have you by any chance seen my grandfather?" Henri pulled her wallet out of one of her pockets, and showed the man Frank Sunderland's photo. Looking briefly at picture, Shelton shook his head.

"Sorry, can't say I have. Do you have any clue where he might have gone?"

Biting her lip thoughtfully, Henrietta considered. "Maybe." She pulled keychain out and showed the man the so-called "Key of Rebirth". "Do you know what the letters 'WP' might mean?"

Shelton shook his head again. "No, can't say I do. I don't really know that much about Silent Hill. However…you might find something at the Silent Hill Historical Society. From what I understand, they have info on just about every building that stands in this town. There should be something about "WP" there."

Despite that inexplicable dislike she felt for this man, Henri had to admit that this was sound advice.

"Thank you very much. I shall go to the Historical Society then. I think I should be going now. Good luck on your own search."

Shelton nodded his goodbye and turned back to the open file cabinet at his back.

Henri backed out of the room quietly, keeping an eye on the strange man before closing the door behind her. Glad to be away from the reach of Shelton's revolver, Henri was about to return downstairs. She stopped abruptly at the top of the stairwell, however, when she noticed that something had changed.

The door to the Director's Office, previously locked, now stood slightly ajar. Cautiously, Henri opened the door all the way.

This room had a large window behind a desk which was taking up a large portion of the space, and the fog-dampened light from the outside was enough to reveal the entire room without the assistance of the flashlight. This room was strangely clean and very much unoccupied.

Whoever or whatever had unlocked the door was no longer here. Unlike any other rooms she had seen in this world, it looked safe and comfortingly normal; there was no blood on the walls, no furniture in shambles, and this room lacked the ominous chill of the rest of the town. Wondering why, Henri approached the desk.

On the desk was a beautifully crafted crystal vile. It was about five inches high and had a flat bottom, allowing it to stand on its own. Inside of the vile was a clear liquid that sparkled even in the dull sunlight.

Cautiously, Henri removed the snug-fitting frosted-glass cap and took a brief whiff of the liquid. There was no smell as far as she could tell. Looking at the stopper, she noticed that there was a very small drop of the liquid beading off of it. Holding the cap in one hand, she touched her finger to the droplet.

She abruptly pulled her finder to her chest after a short yelp of pain. That had burned! Looking at her abused finger, she saw that there was a very small scorch mark where the seemingly innocuous liquid had touched her. Was it some sort of weak acid then?

Recapping the vile, Henrietta looked again at the desk, noticing that there was a piece of paper under the vile. According to the date, the paper had been written only the day before…supposedly when the world had gone to hell. It looked to be a diary entry of some sort:

_I brought this back from Italy, originally just because I thought it would be a conversational piece. Now, though, I am very glad I did for an entirely different reason. Just a little of the fluid seems to drive the monsters crazy with pain. However, it seems most effective on the creatures that bear the blue pentagrams. While it is true that they hate the sunlight, that alone is not enough to kill them, whatever legend might say. They are almost invulnerable at night. This liquid is the only thing I have found that has any power over them, but I have to use it sparingly. This is the only vile I have, and I fear what will happen when I run out. Those bastards are always thirsty, and they…_

Here the letter ended with a sudden glaring smudge of ink, as though its writer had been suddenly disturbed from his task. She felt a sudden sense of unease. She had yet to see these creatures with the "blue pentagrams", and had a desire never to see them at all. Particularly if this small vile was the only defense she had against them. Pocketing the note and the vile, Henri left the office, suddenly wishing to be out of the building and away from Shelton.

She was strangely eager to see Michael, and move him away from the building before Palmer found him and shot him full of holes…and eager to move to a safer place before night fell.


	4. The Executioner’s Chapel

Disclaimer: I do not own Silent Hill or any of its characters. I only own my OC's and this plot.

A/N: ...I haven't updated this in _how_ long?! Sorry about that…

As always, beware of the SH1-SH4 spoilers throughout this story. And beware weird formating.

Please enjoy :)

**Chapter 4: The Executioner's Chapel**

Walking out of the Director's Office, Henrietta was pleased to hear the sound of a file cabinet being opened in the Records Room. She wanted to be as far from the premises as she could when Shelton reappeared. Exiting the South Silent Hill Fire Station from the main entrance, Henri was met with an unpleasant sight.

Michael, it seemed, had grown hungry waiting for her, and had started to eat one of the dead Gruesome Mosaics lying in front of the building.

He noticed Henri almost immediately and made another of those bizarre grunting noises. He then proceeded to rip out a handful of intestines from the dog and offered them to her. Gulping nauseously, Henri shook her head slowly. "No thank you. I…already ate," she said, hoping her stomach would not do something _completely_ inappropriate like growl. Michael looked a little sad (although it was hard to tell on a face like his), but he perked up again when Henri pat him on the head, at which point he went back to his meal.

Remembering Shelton, Henri decided that she needed to hide the Dread somewhere. Heading west towards St. Stella, she noticed that there was an alleyway between the two buildings. A short walk revealed that there was a patio surrounded by the sort of tough, green plastic one would see around junk yards, and the door was thankfully open. Returning to Michael, Henri called his name, gesturing for him to come.

He hesitated only a moment, then grabbed hold of both of the dog corpses and followed her. She led him to the patio and told him to stay there until she returned. She didn't know how much he understood, but he did go back to eating, taking no notice when she shut the gate behind her.

With Michael as well hidden as she could make him for the moment, Henri walked up to the entrance of the alley, noticing that there was a door marked "Church Side Entrance". Opening the door, Henri found herself in a small room. There where two doors in front of her. One was marked "Basement" and the other "Main Chapel". Both where locked. The only other thing in the room was a stairway leading up, with a sign pointing upwards marked "To organ room". Henri ascended the stairs, which led to an unlocked door.

Opening the door, Henri found herself standing before a large, ornate organ. It would have been beautiful if not for the blood slowly dripping down from the top of the pipes. There was a fairly liberal amount of foggy light pouring in from the rose window at the top of the church, and in the streaming light Henri found something on the organ's keys.

There appeared to be another newspaper lying across the keyboard. This paper was dated some two weeks after the one she found in the Blue Creek Apartments, and was again from the Silent Hill Gazette:

Story Update: Girl Raped in Abandoned Church.

_An update has been issued on the condition of the young woman found brutally raped in the abandoned church north of Lakeside Amusement Park. While authorities refuse to release the girl's name, we do know that she is now well enough to leave the hospital, and that her father has taken her home. She has not made any statements to the press, but reliable sources suggest that she is pregnant as a result of the rape. No word yet as to whether or not she plans to terminate the pregnancy._

_The police still insist that the crime was not committed by the fabled Silent Hill cult. However, they have also failed to bring forth any other suspects. In fact, the police seem strangely uninterested in the case, and told the press that they have run out of leads. It now appears that they will soon close the case, unsolved, and store whatever evidence they might have in the Cold Case department of the Central Silent Hill Police Station. Authorities have refused to offer comment as to why they are closing the case so shortly after the date of the crime._

Knitting her brows in confusion, Henri wondered why she was yet again receiving information on this bizarre, 23-year-old, rape case. It must mean_ something_, considering that whatever force controlled Silent Hill had taken the trouble of leading her to two newspapers regarding the case. Lost in thought, Henri put the newspaper in her bag. She was awakened abruptly from her trance when she heard sounds coming from the Main Chapel below the terrace holding the pipe organ.

Looking down at the Main Chapel for the first time, Henri's eyes widened in shock.

Of all the buildings that she had seen, the chapel was probably the bloodiest. The reason soon became apparent. The bodies of at least 60 humans and many more mannequin-monsters where pinned to the walls of the chapel by incredibly long spears. She noticed that many of the humans were wearing the same crimson robes that she had seen on Palmer. Blood from the hanging corpses formed large, hideous pools almost completely covering the floor.

Looking down below her in horrified fascination, Henri heard the sound that had originally disturbed her again. It was the sound of heavy footsteps and something being dragged. Looking towards the front entrance of the church, Henri had to restrain a gasp as she laid her eyes upon the most bizarre figure she had ever seen.

It was very humanoid, with normal arms and legs, and wore what appeared to be a white butcher's smock. However, his most obvious feature was the ridiculously large, red, pyramid-like helmet he wore. His steps where fairly slow, and he was dragging the dead body of an unfamiliar, crimson-robed man.

Ducking lower behind the railing of the organ terrace, Henri watched as the creature dragged the dead man towards the front of the church. She winced as he held the man up on the wall and, pulling a heavy spear from off his back, pinned the new body upon the wall. The Pyramid Head then turned back towards the front entrance, slowly walking back the way he came.

Henri thought she was in the clear until the creature stopped abruptly. Startled, Henrietta ducked lower, backing away from the railing and hiding in the shadows. She could just see the monster tilt his bloodied helmet up towards the terrace. His head bobbed slightly, as though he were trying to sniff something out. She grew more nervous as he pulled another spear off of his back and began to slowly approach the terrace's overhang.

He was pulling his arm back to throw the spear towards where she hid when a blaring noise abruptly filled the room.

Both living occupants froze when the sound of an air raid siren, most likely from the fire station, roared through the building. The sound froze Henri's heart for a moment, and she felt an inexplicable tug, a sort of instinct telling her that she had somewhere else to be. She shook the feeling off quickly, noticing that Pyramid Head had lowered his spear, and was purposely striding out the front door, much faster than she had seen him walk before.

Slowly exiting the church from the side entrance, Henrietta quietly looked around the alleyway and around the corner, out onto Nathan Ave. Pyramid Head, however, seemed to be gone. With a sigh of relief, Henri returned to the patio where she had left Michael.

She was dismayed to find, however, that the patio door was open. Looking into the patio, Henri found that the Dread was gone. It looked as though he was in the middle of eating the second Gruesome when he had decided to leave. Judging by the condition of the door, it seemed likely that he had left of his own power. But…why?

She felt a brief moment of disappointment. She had become used to the presence of the large beast, and she found she missed his comforting bulk. She paused from her contemplations when she remembered the air raid siren that had drawn Pyramid Head from the church.

Had the siren drawn Michael away too? If so, where had he gone, and why had he been drawn there? Venturing out farther onto the street, Henri couldn't help but notice that the street, once full of Gruesome Mosaics, was now empty. The siren must have lured them away, too.

Continuing west on Nathan Avenue, Henri decided she might as well continue to head towards the Texxon Gas Station. She had nearly walked past the entrance of Rosewater Park when something made her pause.

She could have sworn that she had heard something on the light breeze coming from the water front. Turning slowly, she faced the park entrance, closing her eyes, concentrating. There…there it was again: a faint voice whispering into the wind.

"_Henrietta…come here…hurry…,"_ the disembodied voice, husky and dry, never the less sounded pleading and desperate. It sounded familiar somehow, but she could not place it.

Without making a conscious decision, Henri walked into the park, following the voice in something of a daze. She followed the voice to the waterfront. She was awakened abruptly when the voice disappeared as soon as the water came into view. Disappointed, Henri looked around for the source of the summons, but found nothing but an empty pier over-looking the lake.

Looking out onto Lake Toluca, Henri found herself overcome with a deep feeling of what she was sure had to be sadness. The normally beautiful view was covered by the plague of fog, the once sparkling waters dull and soulless. A memory suddenly washed upon her. It was something Uncle James had once told her.

**FB FB FB**

_A chestnut-haired child of ten years sat on the knee of a handsome blonde man, her hands tangled in the folds of his favorite green bomber jacket. A calm, peaceful smile rested on her face, her head resting against his chest._

_Across from them sat two women: one appeared to be a female version of the blonde man, while the other was a pretty, modestly dressed, red-head. The two women laughed softly as they sat together, skimming through a baby-book bearing the words "Henrietta's First Year" on the leather cover. _

_Nine years had passed since the first year of that child, and Henrietta Sunderland was growing quickly. While she lacked the beauty of her delicate, blonde, mother, Henri had a sweet, kind face. The child yawned blearily, gazing down at the picture album which also occupied the man's lap. The photos depicted a sparkling lake and a grand hotel, stunning in its simple elegance. _

"_What is that, Uncle James?" the little girl asked, pointing to the picture. Her uncle smiled, a far-away look in his eyes. _

"_That is the Lake View Hotel, Angel. It's in Aunt Mary's and Uncle James' favorite town, a beautiful place called Silent Hill. I took this on our honeymoon."_

"_Oooohhhhh," the child said, gazing in innocent wonder at this place that was so precious to the man she considered perfect in every way. "What's the lake called?"_

"_Lake Toluca. I remember when your aunt and I first saw that lake. We stood on the pier of Rosewater Park and gazed out onto that lake for an entire day, just the two of us. It was one of the happiest days of my life. We were so happy in that town…," the far away look in his eyes remained as he thought of those happy times. "We'll return to that place someday, Henrietta. Maybe we'll take you along. You would fit perfectly into that heaven, Angel. I know you would be happy there." He turned from the picture to look into her big, silvery eyes. "What do you think, Angel? Would you like to go there with us?"_

_The child's eyes grew even larger, a smile blooming on her face. "Yeah! I want to go with Uncle James!" She laughed happily, hugging her uncle tightly. James Sunderland grinned, running a hand through her hair. _

"_I knew you'd like that. Silent Hill would be the perfect place for you, Angel…,"_

**FB FB FB**

Henri rubbed her eyes briefly, mind returning to the present.

It really _had_ been too long since she had thought of Uncle James.

It had devastated the entire family when Aunt Mary had become ill. She had been such a sweet woman, and she had made James so happy. Henri vaguely remembered the last time she had seen Mary in the hospital.

Her quiet beauty was gone, and she glared hatefully at everyone who entered the room. Henri had even heard her yelling at James a time or two. Mary wouldn't yell at Henri, though. When Henri would enter the room, Mary would stop her angry tirade and smile painfully, thanking her for bringing Mary's favorite flowers.

Henri could easily remember the constant pain her aunt was in, and how helpless her fourteen-year-old self had felt at the deterioration of her once vibrant aunt. Henri's helplessness was nothing compared to James', though. Her strong uncle deteriorated right along with his wife; the wife who had no qualms about verbally abusing him in her pain and sorrow.

Henri never believed that Mary had meant the horrible things she said to James; rather, it was that only way she had to free herself of the near constant pain she went through. The doctors kept her alive for a long time…too long, perhaps. In the end, it seemed that Mary just wanted to die. She got her wish, eventually. Maybe she took James with her…

Shaking her head, Henri tried to drive the tragic death of her aunt and the subsequent disappearance of her uncle from her mind. 'The perfect place for me, huh, Uncle James? I hope this is not what you meant_.' _Still, she could imagine Uncle James standing in just this spot, staring out into the water during happier times, his beautiful wife by his side.

Turning from the waterfront, Henrietta continued to walk down the pier. She had nearly walked to the end when she noticed a strange stone that stood near the exit's steps. It seemed be a memorial for a number of people whose bodies lay at the bottom of Lake Toluca. Knitting her eyebrows, Henri leaned closer to the memorial.

As she rested her hand on the stone, she must have knocked something off of the base, a soft thud resulting as that "something" hit the ground. Looking down, Henri noticed a small, brown square.

It was a wallet.

A strange, ominous feeling overcame her as she reached down and touched the tough leather. It looked like it had been exposed to the elements for a long time. Opening it cautiously, her eyes widened in disbelief, which soon became painful shock.

Rare tears gathered in her eyes, and she felt as though a terrible weight had fallen onto her shoulders. She abruptly sank to the ground, the stress she had felt since arriving at South Ashfield Heights Apartments compounding as she stared fixedly on the impossibility before her.

As she lay on the ground, staring emptily up at the darkening sky, she tried to pretend that the wallet on the ground next to her was merely someone's idea of a terrible joke. Her eyelids grew heavier as exhaustion finally overcame her, and she soon fell into a troubled sleep.

On the ground next to her, the driver's license inside of the open wallet displayed the gently smiling, if slightly water-logged, face of James Sunderland.


	5. The Invader

Disclaimer: I do not own Silent Hill or any of its characters. I only own my OC's and this plot.

A/N: Happy Halloween! And thanx so much to Okami for reviewing! Reviews and CC are _always_ welcome.

As always, beware of the SH1-SH4 spoilers throughout this story.

Please enjoy: )

**Chapter 5: The Invader**

When next Henrietta awake, night had obviously fallen over Silent Hill. The snow that had fallen during the afternoon had dissipated, half an inch remaining on the ground. The sky was very clear, and the moon was nearly full. The young woman on the ground groaned slightly as the chill seeped into her body. She sat up painfully, brushing a dusting of snow off of her clothes.

As her memories slowly returned, Henri felt a strange twinge of pain in the middle of her back, like something had been pressing into it during her sleep. Twisting around to look under herself, she could not find anything. Maybe she had just slept on it wrong…

Pushing aside these useless thoughts, she hesitantly looked over at the wallet lying open by her side. In the darkness, she turned on the pocket flash-light. Picking the wallet up again, she looked at the rest of the contents. She grimly noted the pictures of Jamie, Frank, Mary, and Henrietta herself that took up the majority of the space inside. She smiled sadly as she flipped through the photos, remembering a better time…until she reached the last picture. She abruptly frowned, eyes narrowing.

In the final picture slot of the wallet was a picture of a woman Henrietta had never seen. And a strange looking woman she was, too. She had dark hair and eyes, and looked to be only in her late teens. She wore a dark cloak, and a sad, tired expression. She wasn't beautiful…rather, she was plain, but not really unpleasant to look at. Her most striking feature, however, was her heavily swollen stomach, displaying the final month of pregnancy. She didn't look particularly happy about it, either.

There was one other person in the photo: a middle-aged man, standing behind the young woman, one hand on her shoulder. He too wore the black cloak, and shared most of the same physical features. He was probably her father. He had a far different expression on his face. Where she looked sad and hopeless, he looked proud and pleased. Why would the father be happy about the pregnancy while the daughter looked traumatized?

Turning the picture over, Henri found something scribbled on the back:

_Mariana W. and her father, Nathanial W. – taken about 23 years ago_

If this had been written recently, then Mariana should be about Jamie Sunderland's age. Though, judging by the sickly state the girl seemed to be in, Henrietta couldn't help but wonder if Mariana had lived beyond her dreaded pregnancy.

Of course, there were many things to consider here. For one thing, why was this picture in James Sunderland's wallet? Did he know this girl and her father somehow? Why were they dressed so strangely, so much like Shelton Palmer?

Perhaps most importantly, why had the wallet of her missing uncle turned up so unexpectedly in Rosewater Park, seven years after the fact? Putting the mystery aside for now, Henri closed the wallet, tucking it in a pocket and pulling her backpack up from the ground.

She was about to leave the waterfront when the flashlight caught something in the corner of her eye—something small and red. Turning back to the memorial, Henri found two more boxes of pistol bullets held together with a rubber band. A small piece of white paper was tucked under the band. Opening the folded paper, Henri's heart beat faster upon reading the words:

_For my Angel_

There was no signature identifying the giver, but Henrietta felt a chill run down her spine. Could it possible be a coincidence that the tag bore the same nickname that Uncle James had always used for her, or was someone really playing some kind of sick joke on her? She thought it was probably the latter, but couldn't bring herself to crumple the note. She tossed both bullets and note into her backpack.

Finally exiting Rosewater Park, Henrietta continued, warily, westward on Nathan Ave. The dark streets were still deserted, and a deathly stillness was in the air. She would have given anything for the growling of a Gruesome Mosaic right about now, but nothing so much as a breeze swaying the trees broke the silence.

The town was finally living up to its name.

Henri soon found the Texxon Gas Station. She looked around the station for a good fifteen minutes, but failed to find anything that she thought would be worthy of its marked place on the map she had found in the trailer on Saul St. She looked around the pumps, underneath cars, and even in the station itself, but found nothing.

Beginning to get frustrated, Henri was about to leave when a strange urge came upon her. Turning back, she noticed a small book stand in front of the station. She had seen it before, but had not thought it particularly interesting.

Going back to it now, Henrietta looked more closely at the books. She swiftly found an old, green covered book amidst the others: "The Book of Lost Memories".

Frowning slightly, Henri opened the front cover in order to discover the nature of the book. After reading for a few minutes, Henri ascertained that the town had once been a holy place for its original Native American occupants. Come to think of it, she vaguely remembered her aunt telling her something similar. The tale became stranger, and darker, however. The tale spoke of the bloody expulsion of the original people by Europeans. But…something terrible happened that drove even the invaders out, and yet another people took over. However, according to the book, nothing was ever the same in Silent Hill again.

'Humph. I can believe it,' Henrietta thought darkly, tucking the book into her pack.

Bah. She needed to find some place to spend the night. It was getting unbearably cold, and she was suddenly developing the most painful headache—

"AAAHHHH!!!" she suddenly screamed, as an excruciating pain tore through her neck. This terrible feeling was preceded by a heavy weight slamming into her back. She was knocked quickly to the ground. It took a long moment for her to regain her senses, but she finally realized that she was lying on the ground, and that the flashlight had fallen on the ground before her, and the light was shinning in her eyes. Blinking, she felt the suffocating weight of something lying on her back, and an equally foreign wetness on the side of her neck.

She tried to shake her head, hoping to clear it, but something prevented her from moving. An angry growl came from behind her, and something grabbed her hair tightly, holding her in place. Groaning in pain, Henrietta's mind finally registered the fact that the wetness on her neck came from a mouth—a mouth in which hid a nasty set of fangs, both of which were currently buried in her neck.

A woozy feeling came over her as she heard a slight gulping sound in her ear, and her mind grudgingly came up with the conclusion that the creature on her back was _drinking_ her blood.

Luckily, this overdue epiphany was accompanied by a burst of panicked adrenaline. Quickly drawing back her arm, Henri drove her elbow into the side of the creature's head. It gave a startled yelp, abruptly pulling its teeth from her neck. Henri stumbled to her feet, grabbing hold of the flashlight and her bag (unable to find the steel pipe) and running as quickly as she could down Nathan Ave.

It was a difficult task: her vision blinked in and out, and her mind whirled with dizziness from the blood-loss. She soon passed the intersection of Nathan Ave. and Carroll St., and would have run farther if not for the fact that the road suddenly ended immediately after Pete's Bowl-O-Rama. Gasping in disbelief, Henri skidded to a halt, quickly running back to Carroll St.

As she ran, she heard the sound of hissing, growling, and quick footsteps coming up swiftly behind her. The creature must have just recovered from its pain. The darkness was now all-consuming, and Henri ran without any true direction, and soon began to fatigue from over-exertion and blood-loss. Reaching Rendell St., she ran with a now stumbling gait westward.

Panting, Henri let out a chocked cry as she ran into yet another walled-off street.

Now at a dead end, Henri leaned heavily against the wall. Clutching the side of her neck in pain, she began to feel nauseous. A clear part of her mind realized that her pursuer was approaching her—slowly. Looking up, Henri saw the creature come into the range of her flashlight.

It was extremely humanoid, and would have looked just like a human, if not for its (his) extremely pale skin and bloody, elongated canines. He had long, grungy, red hair, and glowing yellow eyes. He was wearing very human clothing: dark pants, a long, black coat, and surprisingly expensive-looking shoes. He would have been very handsome, if not for the vicious smirk on his face.

All in all, he looked like a genuine ax-murderer.

"Well," he said, the smirk never leaving his face, "It looks like I finally have you tired out, then. I'm impressed; you're a tough little morsel." This final part he said while licking the excess blood from around his mouth.

He had a well-educated, self-controlled manner of speaking, which made his actions seem even more bizarre.

"You have a very unique taste…a little extra _oomph_, if you would. I was just going to drain you and move on, but I think I'll keep you for a while." He gave a mock sigh. "You're the best thing I've found in this astoundingly mundane town."

Henri's eyes narrowed. "You…you're not a creature of Silent Hill?" she asked, something about this idea seeming very disturbing.

He scoffed. "Of course not. I'm no servant of that pathetic fool Sammael." He examined his shoes, as though afraid that the atmosphere of the town was polluting his expensive loafers. Henrietta looked incredulously at the jackass vampire in front of her.

Of course, maybe that made a certain amount of sense. Thus far, no creature of Silent Hill origin (Sammael's origin, perhaps) had ever attacked her. The vampire standing before her must be a foreign creature—an invader, perhaps.

Another tide of vertigo washed over her, causing her to sway. Holding her face in her hands, Henrietta hunched over in discomfort.

"Ah, how rude of me. You must not be feeling very well. No wonder, after losing all that blood. Come now my dear, let me take you home," he said, the nasty smirk returning to his voice. He approached her slowly, arms slightly out. When he was finally just a few inches from her, his arms circled her waist, bringing her against his cold chest.

In a parody of affection, he began to stroke her hair. "There now, don't worry. I'll take good care of you. You'll be much happier with me than in this pathetic rubbish-pile those black-robed freaks call a town." His voice lowered, grew huskier as he tightened his hold. "I am Maddox, by the way. And you?"

Absentmindedly, Henri told him her name, all the while staring at the front of his coat, the breast of which was now eye-level. She saw, quite clearly, that there was a symbol on his front pocket.

A blue pentagram.

A memory came rushing back to her. "_…it seems most effective on the creatures that bear the blue pentagrams." _Yes, this must be the sort of creature the note in the Director's Office talked about. Trying to be a subtle as possible, Henri reached into her left pocket, pulling out the crystal vile and popping out the lid.

While the garrulous blood-sucker rambled on (getting a little too touchy-feely for Henri's taste), Henri suddenly brought her knee up into the creature's crotch, making him howl in pain and anger. As he started to regain his bearings, he turned a furious look at her, but she quickly followed up with a brief splash in the face with the clear liquid.

Now Maddox's cry was far more tormented, and he reeled with excruciating agony. Looking at his face, Henri realized that the liquid was actually causing it to…melt. His skin was actually becoming saggy, and bubbled, as though he just got a face-full of acid. Maddox quickly fell to his knees, cursing acerbically in a foreign language Henri did not recognize.

Taking her chance, Henrietta ran back up Carroll St., leaving the vampire to his misery. Her mind was slowly becoming clearer, but she still needed some place to spend the night, before she met any more of Maddox's friends. But where was she to go? All of her closest escape routes were now blocked or impassable. She needed a building…a large one that would provide her with ample hiding space.

Henri soon found her answer. About a quarter of the way up Carroll St. was Brookhaven Hospital. Running quickly to the front entrance, Henri was nearly ecstatic to find that it was unlocked. Quickly entering, Henri shut the door quietly, wishing she had a key with which to lock it. Sighing in momentary relief, Henri looked around her.

Brookhaven was a very depressing place. The walls were covered in rust, grime, and blood. Looking to her left, Henri saw a hospital map on an announcement board on the wall. Taking it down, Henri looked over the room lay-out: Examination rooms, pharmacy, day rooms, visiting rooms…Special Treatment rooms? Henri frowned, a memory returning to her. Brookhaven wasn't just a hospital—it was a mental institution.

She had been here herself, but not since her early childhood.

Now less comfortable with her find, Henri never the less had to find a place to hold up for the night here. If the note in the Firehouse was correct, then the vampires should be weak in the day.

Another bout of nausea fell over her. She really needed to sleep off the exhaustion that swept over her thanks to Maddox's midnight snack. Closing her eyes and taking a deep breath, Henri began to look for a place to sleep. She was kind of hungry, too. Maybe she needed to find some sugar to give her a boost after her involuntary blood "donation".

She found that the door to the Reception Office was unlocked. There was nothing particularly interesting in the office, but she did find something strange in the Documents Room connected to it. There was a typewriter in the back of the room, a paper still in the machine. It was a note of some sort:

_Welcome to Brookhaven Hospital. We hope that you will find sanctuary here from whatever demons pursue you—real or imagined. _

_Brookhaven exists to serve you, and will faithfully protect a child of Silent Hill, no matter how long you have strayed from the place that you belong. _

_If you should find yourself tired, you shall find peace in our comforting west wings. If you are hungry, you'll find something very welcome in our cafeteria. And never worry: our qualified staff will make sure your comfort is never interrupted. _

Somewhat mystified by this strangely worded greeting, Henri turned the paper over. It turned out that the strangest part of the message was on the back in bold, slightly uncontrolled, hand-written script:

**Welcome home, _Henrietta_**

Henrietta decided that the most disturbing thing about whatever controlled Silent Hill was the fact that it seemed to know every place she would be. She also wasn't particularly happy that that same entity thought that this town was Henri's true home. Henri would take Pleasant River any day.

Now that she thought about it, the place she _really_ belonged right at this moment was cramming for her Mammalian Physiology test at Pleasant River University. And never had she missed her dorm room, Room 6 in Stone Hall, as much as she did now.

Sighing again, Henri noticed something on the table next to the typewriter. It was a key. Examining it under the light, Henri found that it had something scratched into the head: "C2". Henri found this room on the map to be in the west wing of the first floor. The west wing must be the personal patient rooms, then.

Leaving the Reception Office, Henri tried to enter the other rooms in the east wing of the first floor. Everything was locked except the Cafeteria and the Doctor's Lounge. She found the moldy cafeteria to be empty, but the door connecting it to the Kitchen was unlocked.

A large refrigerator stood across from the entrance. Walking closer, Henri found that a note had been taped onto the door of the refrigerator:

_I knew you would be working the graveyard shift, so I left some food for you in the fridge. _

_P.S. I found that key you were looking for. I taped it onto the mirror in your locker. _

_Allison _

Opening the fridge, Henri found that it was working, and the food inside was still good. In the middle of the second shelf was a platter containing cold meats and cheeses. Figuring whoever that note had been written for would not mind at this point, Henri took the dish out and began to eat.

After having her fill, she put the left-overs in the fridge and exited the Kitchen. The only other door in that wing left unlocked was the Doctors' Lounge. The Lounge was only dimly lit, and the furniture was covered in blood. In the middle appeared to be the remains of a couch and coffee table. There was yet another note in the remains of the table, this one appearing to be a memo:

_The newest patient proved to be far more violent than we had anticipated. He attacked Nurse Danielle, and somehow managed to get his hands on a large knife: how, we are not sure. In consideration of all of these facts, we decided to put him in Special Treatment Room #4. _

_Be wary of approaching him. He attacks without hesitation, and has a very animal-like personality. He has very few reasoning abilities, and seems to live mostly by instinct alone. _

Great. Just wonderful. Knowing Silent Hill by experience, Henri knew that this was probably her cue to visit the Special Treatment ward on the third floor—were all the _really violent_ crazy people were. The fact that she planned to do just that probably proved that Henri had very few "reasoning abilities" herself.

Exiting the Lounge, Henri made her way to the west wing. The stairway door was locked: however, the door to the west wing corridor was unlocked. She decided to explore the rest of the hallway before unlocking C2. It proved to be a useless endeavor. She first tried to enter C1.

She _could_ enter…sort of. She opened the door and stepped through. She closed the door behind her, turning to look at the room before her—only to find herself back in the hallway.

Blinking somewhat unintelligently, Henri looked around herself in disbelief. However, the same thing happened when she tried C3, C4…every room in the wing. Finally standing in front of C2, Henri decided that "The Powers that Be" wanted her to go into that room as soon as possible.

Although she did not like this idea, she realized that she was becoming more tired and dizzy with every room she tried: she had to sleep, and that's all there was to it. Using the key, she unlocked the door.

The inside was surprisingly neat. Unlike the other rooms she had seen in the hospital, this room was covered in a pleasantly soft shade of off-white paper, and the bed was clean and comfortable-looking.

For some reason, Henri was hit with a sense of familiarity. She had the feeling that she had been here before. Maybe she had. After all, she had been here briefly for treatment of the strange illness from which she suffered.

In fact…yes. This _was_ the room she had slept in during her brief stay in the hospital.

She wondered how she could have forgotten.

Once she began looking at the bed, however, she quickly abandoned her uneasy trip down memory lane. Having seen the bed, she now had a great deal of difficulty looking away from it. There almost seemed to be some force drawing her to it.

Sighing in resignation, Henri finally gave into the exhaustion that had been dogging her since her encounter with Maddox. Walking to the side of the bed, Henrietta turned off her flashlight and dumped her bag and ax on the table next to the bed. She then flopped down on the bed with a contented sigh.

Closing her eyes, she was asleep within a few minutes.


End file.
